7 Warning Signs Of Christian Dating Scams and How to Avoid Them

January 6, 2016

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By Top10BestDatingSites Staff

Most people who visit online dating sites are there in order to find love and a relationship. However, the sad reality is that there are a few individuals who lurk on these sites in order to carry out online dating scams. They prey on people’s weaknesses, often targeting Christian singles because they think they are less likely to be suspicious. Furthermore, they try to take advantage of their propensity for kindness.

Now, before you turn off your computer - convinced that your last avenue for finding love has just become a dead end - know that victims of online fraud, catfishing, and scams are becoming less and less common. Through advances in technological security, dating sites are working day and night to raise their users’ awareness levels and the world of online dating is vastly approaching the safest way to date.

Taking the best advice from all the major online dating sites, we’ve compiled our ultimate Signs of Christian Dating Scams List so that you, too, can avoid scams on Christian dating sites.

1. Look For Identity Confirmation Features On Their Profile

When you start dating, make sure it is a reputable dating site. Top online dating websites work hard to ensure that their users don’t fall victim to online dating scams, so they often implement additional safety features to make their users feel safer. An example of this would be Zoosk’s photo verification system. This system allows their members to obtain a “Photo Verified” badge for their online profiles. As a result, users to feel at ease knowing that their dating site has taken extra measures to ensure that this particular user is, at the very least, the same person in the picture. Another great example is match.com. This dating site sees safety as a top priority and every profile and photo is screened for inappropriate content before it goes live. In addition, they have specific guidelines to help keep you safe both on and offline.

2. Watch For Varied Levels of Writing Ability

If a user’s bio is perfectly written, both grammatically and as if this person was sent to you from God himself, then you start to chat with them and they can barely string together a complete sentence, be wary.

This varying level of writing isn’t a surefire way to know if you are dealing with a scammer, but copy and paste part of their bio in Google and see if it comes up under another user. If it does, disengage contact with this individual, immediately.

3. Look For Obvious Signs of Christian Dating Scams

Often, someone trying to scam you will research your profile, and then have their profile mirror the same interests as you listed in yours. This is fairly easy to do because of great search algorithms like those used by match.com. Whereas these algorithms help people, like you, find someone of your Christian denomination or someone that shares your love of kittens, these scammers use it to hone in on individuals that meet their criteria.

As part of their scam, once you’ve started to chat online, they will bring up your shared interests. However, those that purport to be someone else often have a hard time juggling all their lies and get their backstories, hobbies, and interests confused.

If you have any concerns, ask questions. Scammers don’t like it when you ask them personal questions. They will often try to avoid them and you may find there are discrepancies with what they tell you.

If you find that they are continually telling you conflicting stories, it may be best to end the conversation – they are obviously a fraud.

4. Demand They Talk To You In A Way that Identifies Them

In this day in age, almost every computer has a built in webcam. If not that, they certainly have a smartphone with the capabilities to use Skype. On the off chance - and it will be extremely rare - that they don’t have either, at the very least, talk to them on the phone.

If the person you’re chatting with refuses to talk with you by conventional means, don’t waste your time; let’s face it, if they were legitimate, they’d spend the $20 to get a webcam for their computer.

5. Run An Image Search

Most people want to showcase their appearance. They’ll use several different pictures: different poses, different filters and different backgrounds. If the person’s profile you are looking at only has one picture, it would be wise to run their picture through a Google image search to see if it belongs to someone else.

If their profile picture is used on thirty-five different Facebook profiles, twenty-eight online dating bios, and ninety-four Twitter accounts, the person you are talking to is probably a catfish.

6. Confirm Their ID Online

So you’ve been talking for a while, gathering all the pertinent information one would gain access to while conversing - name, where they live, where they work, etc. However, when you do a basic web search for this person, they are nowhere to be found.

Tread with caution. Some people work hard to not have their information found publicly on the internet, this doesn’t mean that they are hiding anything. While they may just be a private person, it always pays to err on the side of caution.

7. Beware of Money Related Issues

Generally speaking, a person who you just met online should not ask you for anything regarding money. Beware of someone who starts off by being really attentive to you and all of a sudden asking you for a favor to cash a check or money order for them and then wire the money to them. This is obviously a trap to steal money from you and you should immediately disengage and report the person to the dating site.

Also, there are many religious scam stories of pastors who consider themselves to be good Christians but are really all about the money. It’s great if your date is passionate about Christianity. However, if they appear to be mesmerized by a particular preacher, and keep trying to persuade you to buy his books or DVDS - then be on your guard.

With this list and a little common sense, you should be able to ensure that you - and everyone you share this with - do not become victims of online dating scams. Remember, a genuine Christian believer would not try to avoid your questions or sound suspicious, as values of honesty and good faith will lead their way.

Top10BestDatingSites Staff

The Top 10 Best Dating Sites staff are your guides to the world of online dating websites and services. The team navigates the world of online dating and share their findings to help readers find online dating success. Our team includes dating experts Laurel House, Ken Solin, James Preece, Erika Ettin, Nida Sea, Vanae Tran, Carmelia Ray and many more talented writers. Top 10 Best Dating Sites staff have extensive first-hand experience in: signing up for and using various online dating sites; researching the ever-growing online dating market; and copywriting and editing for various online and print publications about online dating.

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Most people who visit online dating sites are there in order to find love and a relationship. However, the sad reality is that there are a few individuals who lurk on these sites in order to carry out...

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This site is a free online resource that strives to offer helpful content and comparison features to its visitors. Please be advised that the operator of this site accepts advertising compensation from companies that appear on the site, and such compensation impacts the location and order in which the companies (and/or their products) are presented, and in some cases may also impact the rating that is assigned to them. To the extent that ratings appear on this site, such rating is determined by our subjective opinion and based on a methodology that aggregates our analysis of brand market share and reputation, each brand's conversion rates, compensation paid to us and general consumer interest. Company listings on this page DO NOT imply endorsement. Except as expressly set forth in our Terms of Use, all representations and warranties regarding the information presented on this page are disclaimed. The information, including pricing, which appears on this site is subject to change at any time.

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